THIS IS WHO I AM
British High Commission and Windybrow Arts Centre present
London Artists Projects
THIS IS WHO I AM
South African premiere
This Is Who I Am is a theatrical journey into Hillbrow and beyond, a place where history and present collide with contradictory illusions and dreams of a mercurial South Africa. A storied, yet troubled inner-city area of Johannesburg, Hillbrow remains a safe harbour for an ever-changing mix of iconoclasts.
Imbued with all the power and the passion of deeply personal real-life stories, ten Hillbrow artists and participants express the truth of their lived experience in their own five-hundred-word monologue in response to the title. Lives of abuse, alienation, disability, violence, and xenophobia connect in a mosaic of hope and resistance that demands justice and the right to a better future.
This Is Who I Am is an ongoing multidisciplinary, intercultural arts platform featuring live and online performances, photo portraits, exhibitions, workshops and dialogue between artists from London Artists Projects in the UK and Windybrow Arts Centre in Hillbrow, South Africa.
Launching as part of the G20 Culture Ministerial in South Africa, This Is Who I Am is part of UKwithSA cultural exchange and the British High Commission’s commitment to diversity and equality by drawing on the transformative power of the arts to contribute to wider access and inclusion in collaboration with local partners.
This Is Who I Am is the companion work to Jeremy Goldstein’s Truth to Power Café. Both works are inspired by the political and philosophical beliefs of Nobel Prize winning playwright Harold Pinter and his inner circle, The Hackney Gang, who included Jeremy’s late father, Mick Goldstein, and poet and actor Henry Woolf, whose original poetry bejewels the work.
“Revolutionary theatre at its best and most direct”
Guardian on Truth to Power Café
This Is Who I Am is a London Artists Projects and Windybrow Arts Centre co-production commissioned by British High Commission South Africa with support from Canon South Africa
Hillbrow artists and participants:
Gcebile Dlamini, Simphiwe Dube, Reneilwe Leopeng, Tshiyeya Kalombo, Minenhle Masina, Hlengiwe Masondo, Thabang Matsaung, Sandiso Mbatha, Tyson Nkala, Caleb Nyanguila
Artistic team:
Created by Jeremy Goldstein for London Artists Projects
Original score by DYSKINETIC
Co-directed by Jeremy Goldstein and Jaden Mmokwa Oratile Mosadi
Media Editor Flick Harrison
Photo Portraits by Roger Machin and Quintin Mills
Videography by Presley Mpofu and Sandile Daniel Radebe
Sound Recordist Tumelo Mosenogi
Behind the Scenes Photography by Kopano Lebotse
Dramaturgy and Workshop Facilitation Stacy Hardy (Creative Writing, Wits University)
Script Consultant Chris Thompson
Executive Producer
Dr Sarah Meisch Lionetto, MBE
Public Diplomacy – Head of Arts, Culture & Sports
British High Commission, South Africa
Performances contain stories of lived experience that include trauma, political stances and adult themes.
Audience age: 14+ – parental guidance recommended
Photo: Roger Machin and Quintin Mills